Shattered Ones
by LogicalBookThief
Summary: "If I die tomorrow...would you remember me?" Shinobi children don't have to be wise or experienced to know they walk a very fine line between life and death.


A/N: I've had this idea in my head awhile, so I finally got off my lazy butt to write it. I have a lot of schoolwork on my plate lately, which is sort of depressing, and may account for my darkish mood.

Oh, well. Hope you guys enjoy. The title is from 'Shattered' by Trading Yesterday. Please R&R.

Notes: Can be perceived as friendship, shonen-ai, or brotherly fluff. Whatever floats your boats(;

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><p><em>Yesterday I died. . .Tomorrow's bleeding. . .<em>

Carrying a bag of takeout and rushing to be punctual when arriving at the appointed meeting place, jogged a boy who seemed the farthest thing from a potential sociopath hell bent on wreaking ruin.

Nor did anything appear out of the ordinary about the boy already waiting for him at said place, for no one could actually perceive what lay dormant within the youthful skin.

There Uzumaki Naruto sat, swinging his legs over a bridge, the tell-tale signs of dusk settling in around them. Though Sasuke was well-known for his solitude and separation from other children his age, it was not a rare occurrence to watch the sunset with Naruto as they dined on a warm meal together.

"I brought Ichiraku," he announced in greeting, as he usually did. Knowing the other boy had few funds, he always did buy the food, though this kindness was never mentioned by either of them.

Naruto, noticing his presence, whooped for joy, bouncing excitedly as Sasuke handed him the steaming bowl of his favorite meal. He may have made a comment about Sasuke's lack in taste for adding vegetables to the order, to which he must have rolled his eyes at.

They ate awhile like that, discussing the battle drills they had run today in class outside, one team against another in a mock warzone. This morphed into a conversation of what they wondered real fighting would be like once they had gained their status as ninja.

Eventually, they were both full and content, awaiting the sunset. The blond boy, definitely the most talkative out of the two, was making less effort for silly conversation tonight, and spending more time staring at the ripples in the water. It was almost a cause for concern.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke asked around the last bite of his food, glancing at the blond in surprise. Naruto had never sounded so pensive.

"If...If I were to die tomorrow...would you remember me?"

Eyes wide, he blinked as those words—ten to be exact—sunk in, and his nine-year-old mind was forced to reel back as he considered the very real, very serious implications drawn from the question.

Death was an inescapable precipice, and they were all so dangerously teetering upon the edge, didn't anyone see? Tomorrow, another nation could attack and seize war upon Konoha, slaughtering countless citizens by surprise before the troops could even be summoned. Life in a military village was unpredictable like that.

And for Sasuke this ambiguity was unacceptable. He had to live long enough to get strong so he could surpass his brother. He needed _time._ Time to train, to grow, to collect the power required of his thirst for revenge.

Likewise, it seemed his younger fellow also had something to prove. A reason to escape the precarious clutch of the shinigami.

But Naruto was so..._tolerant_ of the strife which plagued his existence. Only an imbecile would be ignorant not to observe the blatant mistreatment and abuse that followed him wherever he went, whether it was looks of scorn from icy eyes or whispered revile from bold lips.

He understood that their balance with this world and the one after was a very thin barrier indeed, and while he sought to tread cautiously over it, he did not seem to mind falling through it prematurely either. Then again, trapped in the same position, Sasuke cannot say for sure if he would be inclined to feel the same.

He will admit the younger's flippant attitude towards death bothered him slightly, enough to form a mindful frown. Which was preposterous.

Uchiha Sasuke didn't care about anything. He was much too cool, too focused on his training for friends. He paid no heed to the attentions of his envious classmates or impressed seniors. Why should he wonder about the hardships of one dopey dropout?

Dare he say it, even inside the sanctity of his mind? Could he confess that this boy, this pathetic excuse for a student, was his first and maybe only true friend? That somehow their competition had morphed into inexplicable friendliness and then grown into affection before he even had a chance to notice? How absurd.

_Absurdly true, _his mind recited, causing a wry smile to appear on his face.

So yes, Sasuke will conclude. Naruto was his rival, his friend. If he died now, who would be there to push him to the edge? Who would be there to encourage him to do his best, if only for the sake of bettering himself against his peer? They needed each other, like the ocean and the wind. One to push, one to pull. A duo incomplete would be a very tragic matter indeed.

Then again, what was the cause for such alarm? As far as he knew, Naruto was in no imminent danger, and so long as he didn't plan on hopping off this bridge anytime soon, what was so pertinent about the inquiry?

"You won't," he said simply, as if it were obvious. The chances were there, but still slim. Besides, that wasn't the shinobi way, to die as helpless children.

One day, they would both be the capable warriors they pretended to be, and then they would face death as equals upon the battlefield as every brave, honorable ninja did.

For this to come to pass, they couldn't die tomorrow. Not today, not anytime soon. Sasuke would make sure of this, even if that meant protecting the independent blond himself.

But Naruto only shook his head at his answer, confusing the Uchiha child.

"You don't know that," the younger pointed out matter-of-factly, a reality Sasuke found he could not argue with.

He flushed just imagining telling the latter that he had silently swore to protect him to prevent any sort of early demise from occurring.

Naruto gazed down at his feet thoughtfully. Their swinging had ceased long ago. "I may not be as smart as you or a lot of others, but I'm not dumb. I may not notice a lot of stuff, but I think I have a grasp on the important things at least."

"Most kids in our class—even some adults in the village—don't seem to get it. The life of a ninja is all about risk. Everyone knows this. Yet we're at risk too, simply living here, existing among them. There will always be somebody with a grudge, someone who wants to watch the world burn and won't care if a few kids are killed in the process. Especially..."

Face pinched, it looked like saying the rest pained him severely, but the spirited child went on anyway.

"...especially an orphan with nobody to care, like me," Naruto mumbled bluntly.

Sasuke gaped at the cruelty in that statement, and opened his mouth with an urge to protest, but was never given the chance.

"And that doesn't stop people from living. It shouldn't," the nine-year-old concluded firmly. "Still, we should be prepared if anything happens."

"Like a will?" he suggested dubiously. Naruto digested this a moment, then shook his head.

"No, no. You know how if a ninja is dying, a comrade will fulfill his last request?" The raven-haired boy nodded. "Yeah. A last request, then. That's all I want."

He averted his eyes from him again. "I don't have any belongings to give away. No money, no inheritance to split amongst friends. Don't really have those either. Or any family to be taken care of."

Sasuke's face dropped significantly. Naruto had never sound so depressed in his life. The harrowing sorrow behind those words made even his, the young ice prince's, heart ache. What a lonely life, he inwardly sympathized, though it hadn't seemed to bother him so much before. Or maybe he had just hidden it so well, unwilling to let his tormentors see how broken his insides were.

As if a testimony to what he had just contemplated, Naruto's mood abruptly shifted, his bright smile making an appearance through the grim. "So, that's all I ask! Just to be remembered by someone. Anyone. That way, maybe, me being alive will have meant something."

_It should mean something regardless, _Sasuke yearned to say, yet bit his tongue, for some odd reason or another. Whatever Naruto wanted out of his sad life, it certainly wasn't pity.

"Promise me," demanded Naruto, eyes fierce with a twinkling flame. "All I ask. It's my last request as a shinobi warrior, should I be near death in battle, protecting my comrades. I won't forget, so you can't either, okay?"

"Okay, okay," he acquiesced, hands held up in assurance. The blond boy was soothed by the gesture, but clearly unconvinced.

"Promise me." Broken record routine. Quite annoying, even under serious circumstance. _This_ was the Uzumaki Naruto he could deal with, the one he was used to.

"I promise," vowed Sasuke. "I'll remember you."

The other turned to face him squarely, unsatisfied yet. Those blue eyes were like shards of glass penetrating his very soul, searching for any signs of lie or deceit. Then all at once they receded, and the smile was back, deeming him worthy of such a task. He felt important in a way because of it. Naruto instantly calmed, looking much happier than ever before.

"Thanks," Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke smiled sincerely. "No problem." The unspoken, _What are friends for?_ didn't need to be said aloud.

It never had.

* * *

><p>Here they stand, seven years later, upon the battlefield they had once only dreamed of. However, the terms have changed. Where they before believed they would be fighting as allies, defeating their foes together, they were now opponents.<p>

The boy he had once given his life for on a far away bridge seemed like a lifetime ago. The boy he ran through with his chidori at the Valley of the End is closer to the present, but still not the same. They have both changed drastically, the difference raw and dramatic to anyone who'd been there from the beginning. Simple sentiments like innocence and friendship had long since fled, replaced with bitterness and life-threatening rivalry.

Maybe because neither of them are kids anymore, sharing silly thoughts and watching the sunset. They are full-fledged shinobi warriors with skills far surpassing any of their peers.

Vengeance has hardened him grievously. Loss has done the same for his friend, who once had nothing to hold so dear. Now that he has learned the pain of losing someone he loved, he understands his treacherous friend's motives. And Sasuke, in turn, has found the strain of owning nothing to be quite the forlorn tune as well.

Nonetheless, this solitary road he walks is not in vain. He has a new goal and no one will stand in his way. Not even his oldest, truest friend.

He no longer fears flushing in admittance of the truth. Naruto was maybe his only honest-to-god friend in this world, whom had stuck by him even in the face of betrayal. Had he been a different person—a better person—that may have been enough to dissuade him.

Alas...

Sasuke was not Itachi. He strived so hard to be as brutal, as cold, as detached. And that is why Itachi will always be the better brother; because he did not forfeit his emotions, he _utilized_ them, made them his reason for pursuing power. Made his reason for existing the care for one person, his little brother, so that when the end came by Sasuke's hand, he would feel only gratification and peace.

Heart-wrenching as this fact was, and so soon after his life-long vengeance had been subdued by fratricide, Sasuke could not find the mercy to adhere to his brother's last wish. His emotions had been all used up, drained by years of solitude and deception. Perhaps if he were a better man, like Itachi and Naruto wanted him to be, things would have turned out differently.

The fact remains that they have not, and his friend has finally allowed himself to accept this. _Good,_ Sasuke decided, as he really did not wish for the other to linger on it any longer. It would only hinder him when their final clashing came, the monumental moment that would bring their entire relationship to a cataclysmic apex.

And this time, Sasuke didn't want friendship to get in the way. He wanted destruction, blood, and the justice which had been denied to his clan for decades.

Maybe not even Sakura or Kakashi would forgive him anymore. And that was alright, he'll concede. Though once close to him as well, their opinions weren't worth much anymore. None of them could understand. The only one who came remotely close was the boy—_no,_ not boy anymore, _shinobi_—pitted against him now. Those same intense blue eyes piercing his soul, the real message always unspoken between them.

_Friend or enemy? It doesn't matter._

Because one day they would all die—they had known this since childhood. One day Sasuke would meet again with his mother, his father, his brother and other fallen allies, as well as enemies. And a smiling face, finally free of all pain would greet him too, graciously reunited with his deceased family as well. There would be no remorse, no affiliation then; so why should it matter now?

He would kill his former teammate, and afterwards, all he would have to worry about was taking his revenge and extinguishing the unrelenting, underlying regret of destroying the one person who had ever come close to understanding him at all.

Sasuke would never forget the bubbly blond who had been through so much with him nor the imprint that friend has left on his life, so it was okay in the end. So long as he kept up his part of the bargain. He would remember.

He had promised, after all.

And as a struggling ninja-to-be had once told him, even when hindered by isolation, torment, humiliation and the feeling as though every continuous effort was made in vain, a true shinobi warrior _never_ went back on his word.

_. . .Fall into your sunlight. . ._


End file.
